How to determine your skin type
Have you ever bought a really expensive moisturizer or cream that simply didn’t work well with your skin? Instead of that healthy glow you wanted, you ended up with irritated and somewhat dull skin. If this hits close to home, then chances are you might've picked a product that was designed for a different skin type. In today’s article, we will be breaking down all of the main skin types, and how you can figure out yours (or your client’s) in no time.
Generally, skin types can be grouped into 4 main categories - Dry, Oily, Combination and Normal Skin. All of these types have their specific characteristics, which will make it easy for us to figure out our own. There are also a few simple and easy tests we can take, to determine what kind of skin we are working with.
Dry Skin
Dry skin is easily one of the most common skin types across the globe. If you notice your skin getting flaky, patchy or dull around the cheeks, nostrils or chin, chances are you have dry skin. But if you want to confirm your guess, here is a quick test you can try out at home:
Begin by washing your face with your favorite cleanser
If you notice dry flakes appearing about an hour after the cleansing process, that means your skin is of the dry type
Oily Skin
The opposite of dry skin is the oily skin type. People born with oily skin tend to have shiny, and somewhat greasy finish, they clog pored may get clogged more easily because of the excess oil build-up. The so-called ‘T-zone’ (forehead, nose and chin) are especially prone to excess oil production.
To identify oily skin, take a small piece of blotting paper
Cleanse and wash your face. After 60 minutes, apply the paper to your forehead and nose
If you notice the blotting paper get moist or somewhat wet, then you have likely oily skin
Combination Skin
Now let’s take a look at the combination skin, which can be a bit tricky to identify. That’s because people with combination skin can simultaneously have both dry and flakey skin as well as oily T-zone. That is why, this skin type is often overlooked or miscategorized as one of the other skin types.
To determine the combination skin, all you will need is a mirror and observation skills
Take a look at your nose and forehead. If you notice clogged pores, blackheads and shiny surface, as well as tiny dry flakes around the nostrils, then you most likely have combination skin
Normal Skin
And last but not least, let’s talk about the skin type that is considered to be somewhat rare. People with so-called “normal skin", have none of the characteristics or signs of the other skin types. This means, normal skin doesn’t manifest as flakes, patches or oily plugs.
Normal skin type can be identified by performing all of the tests we have mentioned, and simply observing the results
If you don’t find flakes, excess oil or both, then congratulations! You have just discovered you have normal skin
And there we have it! Quick, easy and helpful ways you can figure out your skin type by performing a few simple tests!